The procedure in detailTimeline with the phases of the DoSV

The dialogue-oriented service procedure consists of four phases of different duration proceeding one after another.

Subsequent to this (main) procedure, during which the allocation of the courses offered is coordinated on an interlocational basis, two separate processes of drawing lots take place (the so called “clearing procedures“) during which any places in higher education that could not have been allocated before are allocated at last. The higher education institutions may, however, offer processes of drawing lots on their own and terms of these processes are to be asked for directly at the respective higher education institution.

Summer term timeline

In the dialogue-oriented service procedure you may apply for up to twelve choices of study (combination of course of study and higher education institution). Please note that fewer applications may be allowed per higher education institution. This is subject to the law of the respective German state and the law of higher education.

Courses of study that do not participate in the dialogue-oriented service procedure do not count.

With regard to the courses of medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy that are subject to admission restrictions on a federal basis, you may only apply by means of the separate (central) allocation procedure of the SfH. An application for veterinary medicine, by the way, may only be made regarding the respective winter term.

Application phase (15/10/2018 - 15/1/2019)

During the application phase you may apply for up to twelve choices of study. The initial requirement for your application to a higher education institution participating in the dialogue-oriented service procedure is your registration via the application portal of the dialogue-oriented service procedure (DoSV).

Depending on the decision of the higher education institutions you submit your application either centrally via the application portal of the dialogue-oriented service procedure (DoSV) or locally via the portal of the respective higher education institution. (Information in this regard is provided on the application portal of the dialogue-oriented service procedure (DoSV)).

If the respective higher education institution sets forth to submit application documents by post, you furthermore have to send any documents required to the higher education institution in order to complete your application. In other cases, these documents have to be presented when matriculating on site.

Coordination phase 1 (16/1 - 15/2/2019)

As of coordination phase 1 you may not submit additional applications via hochschulstart.de as the higher education institutions then create their ranking lists considering any valid applications received. In case you have applied and submitted any and all necessary documents in due time, you will be placed on the respective ranking lists. Under Rules we have given information in short according to which criteria the higher education institutions usually create these ranking lists.

Afterwards, the higher education institutions transmit the ranking lists to the portal of the dialogue-oriented service procedure and thus you can see your position on the application ranking lists shortly thereafter in your user account.

A higher education institution may make an offer to you during coordination phase 1. If an offer is presented to you in the application portal, you may accept it at any time during this phase or wait for additional offers.

Please note that you may accept only one single offer. In case you accept an offer, you receive an admission for it and withdraw from the procedure regarding any other of your applications so that any place of study connected with these can immediately be vacated for any other applicants.

In addition, you may prioritize your choices of study during coordination phase 1, i.e. give them an order you define yourself. Priority plays a crucial part in the process of the following coordination phase 2 (see below) and, therefore, we recommend to think about the respective order as early as possible and thus make it easier for you to definitely fix it during the decision phase that follows.

Setting priorities

You can also set the priorities of chosen courses of study in your user account under the application portal of hochschulstart.de. Setting the priorities means ordering your chosen courses of study according to your own preferences.

This setting of priorities is important so that hochschulstart.de, in the coordination phase 2, can offer the places of study in preferential order. It is recommended to set the priorities as early as possible. If you haven't set the priorities before the end of the decision phase the applications will be ordered in the application portal of hochschulstart.de according to their submission date. This means that first submitted application will have the highest priority.

The higher education institutions do not get to know the priorities of their applicants. Thus, no evaluation (or the like) will take place that may have influence on your chances of admission.

Decision phase (16/2 - 18/2/2019)

In case you have already received offers when entering the decision phase, you may accept one of these offers during this phase.

You may, however, also wait and see whether you can get an offer during the following phase that has higher priority for you. In any case, you should certainly check if the order of your applications in your user account is according to your desire as your last chance to amend priority is during the decision phase. This prioritization will influence the further processing of your application within the following coordination phase 2 in a significant way!

Please note that the topic “Prioritization” plays a special role in the interaction between admission-restricted and admission-free courses of study: For admission-free courses of study an offer will usually be made because the number of available places of study generally exceeds the number of applications. These offers will have the effect that in the subsequent coordination phase 2 lower prioritized wishes concerning an admission-restricted course of study automatically will not be considered in any case. So you should be sure when you prioritize wishes concerning admission-free courses of study higher or rely on the automatic prioritization based on the entry date without further action.

In case you do not change the prioritization of your applications in your user account at hochschulstart.de by the end of the decision phase, the existing order of your applications will persist and cannot be amended any more during the following coordination phase 2.

Coordination phase 2 (19/2 - 24/2/2019)

During coordination phase 2 the best possible offer for you is determined by means of your priority list. This is done on grounds of the ranking lists transmitted by the higher education institutions to the application portal of the dialogue-oriented service procedure (DoSV) and depending on how many applicants have accepted their offer before you receive your own offer.

During this phase you receive no more than one offer, in case of an offer applications with a lower priority irreversibly withdraw from the procedure! This offer is the best possible offer for you (according to your priorities) at this stage of the procedure. As soon as you can get an offer that has higher priority for you, the offer of lower priority will automatically be replaced by it and withdraws from the procedure. The offers are therefore determined by us in two steps. During these periods of time your access to the application portal is not possible. The results of these steps will then be published via the application portal in your user account.

If you yourself do not actively decide to accept an existing offer, the best possible offer is turned into an admission automatically at the end of the coordination phase 2 and a notification of admission is issued. In case you have not been made an offer by that point, however, you will receive a notification of rejection for each application instead.

For the summer term 2019

• on 19/02 and 21/02 offers of admission will be determined (the application portal is not accessible meanwhile),

• and on 20/02 and 22/02 applicants can accept these offers of admission.

• On 23/02 the final results will be determined (the application portal is not accessible meanwhile). In the course of 23/02, on 24/02 at the latest, you will automatically receive an admission to your highest possible application.

Clearing procedures (2/3 - 6/3/2019 and 24/3 - 29/3/2019)

Upon the end of coordination phase 2, the last free places of study are drawn by lots in a separate act by means of two clearing procedures. For that purpose, the higher education institutions post the last free places in new courses offered and you may reapply for up to twelve choices of study. An automatic participation in the clearing procedures upon an unsuccessful application in the (main) coordination procedure is not realized. The clearing procedures may also be used by applicants who have not yet taken part in the dialogue-oriented service procedure before.

Furthermore, higher education institutions may take part in these procedures of drawing lots by offering courses that have not been placed on the application portal of the dialogue-oriented service procedure (DoSV) before. The higher education institutions may, however, offer their own processes of drawing lots irrespective of the clearing procedures. Please ask directly at the higher education institutions for information in this regard.